Wing deicer



Jan. 27, 1942.

ATTORNEY Patented Jan. 27, 1942 \VING DEICER Leopold c. Schmidt and Walter J. Schmidt,'

Jersey City, N. J., assignors of one-third to Benjamin G. Wendt, Jersey City, N. J.

Application June 22, 1940, Serial No. 341,832

' 1 Claim. (01. 244-134) This invention relates to improvements in wing de-icers of the mechanical type in which an elastic covering is expanded by mechanical means to :break up the ice forming on aeroplane wings,

ailerons, rudders, and other surfaces.

It has formerly been the practice to use elastic coverings which were expandedby compressed air or by hydraulic means thereby breaking up the ice formation at the front edge of wings and other surfaces. This, however, required air compressers or other elaborate devices of heavy .weight and, therefore, impractical in aeroplanes.

The present invention provides simple mechanical means whereby the de-icing may be-done effectively by manually operated means of extremely light weight construction.

An important object of this invention is to provide a wing de-icer having a large number of cams or eccentrics mounted on a shaft and manually operable to expand the elastic covering of the wing surface.

A'further object of the invention is to provide a wing de-icer which will not in any way deform the wing surface when not in operation.

Another object of the invention is to provide a mechanical wing de-icer-of simple and light construction suitable for direct manual operation or remote control.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent during the course of the following description.

elasticity of this fin, it will have a flopping" and vibrating action in the'wind and, therefore, no ice can form on this fin l0. As a result, there is left a ridge free from ice and the ice will only form on both sides of this ridge. Due to the fact, however, that the two ice sheets are not" connected together and also because the on rushing air is liable to get under the edge of the ice, the resulting ice formation is much easier to remove with the de-icer mechanism as described below. v

Cams 9 are mounted on a shaft H which may be journaled at two or more points in bearings 12 and which may in its simplest construction be operated by the lever l3, see Figure 2. I The cams v9 are mounted on shaft II in such a way that the noses of same will not all project through In the accompanying drawing, forming a part I of this specification, and in which like numerals are employed to designate like parts throughout the same,

Figure 1 is a'perspective view of a section of a wing or others streamlined surface.

Figure 2 is a perspective viewof a wing de-icer shaft with cams, and,

Figure 3 illustrates an arrangement for remote control of the de-icer shaft.

In the drawing, wherein for the purpose of illustration is shown a preferred embodiment of our invention, the numeral 5 designates the fixed outer covering of the wing. Along the front edge of the wing is a recessed portion 6 which is covered by an elastic covering 1. In Figure 1 the elastic covering 1- has been cut away in part to show the recessed portion 6 and the slot 8 with the protruding cam 9. The elastic covering 1 has a fin-like extension In protruding from the wing surface and extending along the front edge of same. The fin-like extension III has a very important and essential function. It has been found from actual experience that due to the through slots 8.

the openings 8 the same time thereby unduly stretching the elastic covering I. The cams 9 may be of. any suitable shape and may be made from a light molded plastic or from a light metal alloy, and the shaft II is preferably madefrom light metal tubing. A

When remote control is desired, this maybe arranged in several ways,'one of which is indicated in Figure 3 where the operating wires l4 and I5 are fastened at the point IS on the pulley I! which is mounted on shaft II. It is obvious that motor drive or any other suitable driving mechanism may be'used as well.

The operation of my invention is as follows:

As indicated in Figure 1, the shaft II is rotatably mounted inside the front surface of the wing. The fixed wing surface is slightly recessed in front and has an elastic covering running along into operating position. The members 9, which.

may be cams or eccentrics of suitable shape, are mounted on the shaft I l in such order that when the operating lever I3 is turned into a certain position none of the members 9 will protrude If desired these members 9 may be fashioned so as to fill slots 8 in this non-operable position thereby providing a fiat and/even support for the elastic material When the lever I3 is turned one afteranother of the members 9 will protrude through the slots 8 and will in turn expand the elastic covering 1 thereby breaking up any ice formation. This action is furthermore aided by a fin which will alsohelp to break up ice formation along the front edge of the wing or aileron, etc.

mounted on said shaft, said cams being mounted at different operating angles, the front edge of the wing having a plurality of openings in spaced relation corresponding to said cams through which these may protrude; an elastic wing cover placed over the recessed portion of the front edge of the wing, the outside surface of said elastic wing covering being flush with the rigid wing covering at the junction between the two; an elastic fin-shaped extension forming the leading edge of said elastic wing covering, and remote control operating means whereby said shaft may be rotated thereby successively expanding various points of the elastic wing covering.

LEOPOLD C. SCHMIDT. WALTER J. SCHMIDT. 

